The real writer is one
who really writes. Talent
is an invention like phlogiston
after the fact of fire.
Work is its own cure. You have to
like it better than being loved.
-- Marge Piercy, For the young who want to in The Moon Is Always Female.

Take an ax to the prison wall.
Escape.
Walk out like someone suddenly born into color.
Do it now.
-- Rumi, Quietness

For example, a recently published study in the American Journal of Public Health suggests that the amount of commercial television (e.g. television with advertisements) that children watch before the age of 6 is associated with increased body weight 5 years down the road, even after adjustment for other important variables including physical activity, socio-economic status and mother’s BMI. In contrast, watching non-commercial television (DVD’s or TV programs without commercials) showed no association with body weight. The data was self-reported, but nonetheless these are pretty interesting findings, and suggest that television commercials are likely an important mechanism linking screen time with obesity risk. Similarly, it has also been reported that each hour of daily television watching in children is associated with an increased consumption of 167 calories per day, mainly through increased consumption of high calorie, low nutrient foods (e.g. the foods most commonly advertised on television).

Other research has shown that scientists increase their food intake (especially their intake of fatty foods) while preparing grant applications, in comparison to other periods of less intense mental work. How is this possible? Mental work requires glucose, which may influence blood sugar levels and therefore appetite. And stressful situations such as grant applications may also increase stress hormone levels, which are also known to influence hunger and food intake. This research suggests that engaging in sedentary behaviours may not just put us in situations making over-consumption more likely – they may actually result in physiological changes that increase hunger and make us seek out energy dense foods.

So there is a connection between computer programming and serious junk food?